Page 45 of In the Mouth of the Wolf (Of Wolves and Kings #1)

45

ELIAS

C am groaned. “Can’t you just say ‘good news or bad news’?”

“No,” Archer replied, carefully pulling up his sweatpants with Marlowe’s assistance. “So which is it?”

“Troubling news,” she answered. “I want to end on a positive note.”

Archer looked towards the door and then lowered his voice. “Elias, what can you tell me about the wolf you saw last night?”

I already didn’t like where this was going and hid my unease to clear my mind, closing my eyes while trying to recall whatever detail I could from the encounter. “It was dark, so I couldn’t make out much.”

“What about fur color? Was it light?”

“No, it might have been black,” I replied. “He didn’t blend into the snow. He looked more like a shadow.”

Archer nodded. “Any other details? Do you remember his scent?”

I closed my eyes again. “Maybe… it reminded me of those cookies Nolan’s mom used to make. Cherry and something.”

“Almond?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

Archer swore under his breath as he tried to pull up his socks, and Marlowe growled cutely at him until he laid back down so she could do it for him.

I could already imagine what the next few weeks were going to be like with those two – Archer hated asking for help, but Marlowe would insist on helping, and hilarity would ensue.

“That wolf appeared in the middle of the road, and I lost control trying to avoid hitting it.”

My body tensed, and I looked at Cam. “We need to get those security cameras up immediately.”

“I’m thinking the same thing,” he replied, cracking his knuckles.

“Wait,” Nolan said. “How do you know what he smelled like? You could tell from inside the car?”

“No.” Archer turned towards Marlowe and grabbed her hands. “What I am about to say will be upsetting. Those three will be angry, and you will be scared. Are you ready?”

Marlowe’s face paled. “Um, no, but go ahead.”

“The wolf came up to me and shifted back into human form. He said he was coming for Marlowe. That she belonged to someone else. And then he left.”

The news ripped through me like a bullet, and my wolf snarled inside me, pacing and demanding to be released so he could chase down this other shifter and rip out his throat.

Not yet , I told him.

When ? he snapped.

Soon .

Nolan and Cam weren’t taking the news any better, but fueling the fire was our very own omega. She wasn’t scared at all; she was furious.

“Who the fuck does this guy think he is?” she seethed.

“I don’t know who he thinks he is, but I can tell you what he’s going to be if he ever shows his furry ass anywhere near you – my new rug.” Cam pulled Marlowe into him, tucking her neck gently into the crook of his elbow and kissing the top of her head. “No one is taking you away from us.”

The discharge coordinator came so Archer could pay and sign all the paperwork. After grabbing his meds at the pharmacy, we made our way back home in Cam’s truck.

“Well?” Marlowe asked, her eyes nervously scanning the road for the dark wolf. “What was the exciting news?”

Archer grunted as he turned towards the back. “I need to preface this news as well and let Marlowe know she’s under no obligation to do anything…”

“Oh, for Moon’s sake,” Cam grumbled, “Just say it – Elias can shift because he bonded with Marlowe already, right?”

Nolan coughed and tugged at the collar of his shirt, and Archer sighed. “Yes, but now I am starting to understand why.” He dug around in his bag and pulled out a small vial. Inside were a few drops of a white, pearly liquid that almost seemed to float as he flipped it upside down.

He gave it to Marlowe, who turned on her cell phone’s flashlight, inspecting it closely. Tiny rainbows and glimmers of diamond-like brilliance danced inside the car. “What is this?”

“Luminis,” Archer replied. “At least that’s what I’m calling it for now. It made up about fifteen percent of your blood sample once I ran it through the centrifuge, and perhaps five percent of Elias’s, but wasn’t present in mine or the other random human and shifter samples I used as a control. When Elias bonded with you, he ingested some of your blood, and you must have passed it onto him that way.”

“Fascinating,” she whispered. She passed the vial to Nolan next so he could look at it. “But what is it made of, and why do I have it while other shifters don’t?”

Archer smiled, clearly excited to talk about this and forgetting his pain or injuries. “I won’t get the data from the spectrometer until tomorrow, and it will take me a while to analyze it. As far as why you have Luminis present in your system and others don’t, well…”

“Your mom,” I interrupted. Cam kept his eyes on the road, already knowing what I was about to say anyway, but everyone else turned to me. “And possibly your dad. With this new full shifter showing up, and the mystery surrounding your parents’ origins, I’m guessing they escaped a shifter commune, and they must never have lost their abilities or their omegas. That’s why you, well, are what you are.”

We knew these communes existed only because of shifters like Marlowe’s parents. But we didn’t know how many there were or where they were even located.

“But why would they want me back?” Marlowe asked. “If they can all fully shift and they still have omegas, I can’t be worth all this trouble.”

Nolan clicked his tongue against his teeth in disgust. “A group of shifters like that, stuck in the old ways when females were seen as commodities, would definitely fight like hell to get a missing omega back. We’re very possessive.”

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed…” she replied dryly. I winked at her, and she stuck her tongue out at me in return.

Little brat.

“It’s true,” Archer added. “Before omegas disappeared from our communities, you were still rare enough to be highly guarded from the general population. When a shifter presented as one in the early stages of puberty, they were sometimes whisked away until they reached maturity, when they could be used as bartering chips between powerful packs. Do not underestimate the lengths shifters will go to for someone like you.”

When Marlowe’s unease leaked through the bond, Cam spoke up. “Including us, babe. No one, and I mean no one , is going to take you away from us. Even if…” he paused. “Fuck, I didn’t want to entertain this idea, but we might…”

He struggled to get the words out, making Marlowe even more nervous. She let out a breathy whine, and Cam cursed again, finally saying, “We might want to consider expanding the pack for Marlowe’s protection.”